1) The customers are called backers.
2) A project creator (like me) puts something new they've created into a campaign on Kickstarter. The created object can be just about anything. Mainly, I support books, comics, and Tarot cards, but I've also supported low-flow shower heads and wearable flash drives shaped like Star Trek comm badges. The point of the campaign is to solicit funds to bring their product to wider markets.
3) In return for supporting the campaign, the backers get some really cool merchandise!
4) The campaign is open for a set number of days (in my case, from July 21st through midnight PDT July 30th).
5) During the time the campaign is live, the backer can pledge for a certain reward package. For example, the backer can get all e-books or all paperbacks. In my current campaign, I set up a ‘Make Your Own’ package option where you can mix and match the items in a campaign via the 'Add-ons' feature.
6) A lot of creators also have 'Add-on' merchandise where backers can get extras of campaign items or special merchandise that's not part of the main campaign. You can select ‘Add-ons’ in my campaign if you want an extra paperback for your favorite niece, for example.
7) Yes, backers will need a credit or debit card to make their pledge. However, Kickstarter WILL NOT charge you yet.
8) The creator's have a funding goal. If there's enough pledges to meet or exceed that goal when the campaign's time is up, then the campaign is successfully funded!
9) If the campaign fails to fund when its time is up, The backers won’t be charged at all, but they also won’t get any merchandise.
10) If the campaign successfully funds, the backer's credit/debit card will be charged shortly after the end of the campaign.
11) If there is a problem with the backer's credit/debit card (hey, life happens), Kickstarter will contact the backer and give them a chance to rectify the problem. If they cannot fix the issue within 7 days, Kickstarter will cancel the backer's pledge.
12) Approximately, two weeks after the end of the campaign, Kickstarter deposits the funds from the campaign (minus Kickstarter's fees and any card processing fees) to the creator.
13) The creator then arranges for the merchandise to be made (if they haven't done so already) and delivers/ships the merchandise to the backers. In my case, physical books will be drop-shipped from the printer/distributor Ingram. The e-books will be downloaded via Book Funnel. And the extra merch will be mailed from me to you!
14) There's a very low incidence of scamming on Kickstarter. The company runs a pretty tight ship. However, once in a while someone slips through. So screen any creators! Hopefully, after writing and publishing for the last 15 years, you find me trustworthy!
I've successfully run two campaigns so far. The Books of Apep series is my third one, but my first under my company name, Angry Sheep Publishing LLC. I'm truly excited about this campaign because I had a ton of fun writing the books!
If everything goes smoothly, my backers will have their books a minimum of six weeks before the first book in the series launches at the regular retail sites.
If you have any additional questions about Kickstarter, take a look at their FAQ section.
Hopefully, you'll check out my campaign when it launches tomorrow! Thanks!
In the province itself, homes are engulfed and destroyed in minutes. Evacuations continue, but the province is running out of places to put people who have lost everything. Fire fighters are doing their damnedest, but many of the fires are raging out of control.
On Tuesday, Alter Ego's cover artist Jo-Anna posted a picture from her house. A sulfur-yellow cloud engulfed her neighborhood. You could barely see the house across the street in the weird haze. She lives in a small town roughly halfway between Detroit and Toronto, well out of the path of the actual fires.
Unfortunately, the jet stream is dragging the smoke from Western Ontario to the Atlantic.
Yesterday, gray smoke enveloped my current residence. We live about an hour south of Toledo, Ohio. The air quality index ("AQI") was 276. The dogs want to dally, but if the smoke badly affects my eyes and sinuses, I can only imagine what it's doing to my precious puppies.
Today isn't better. The AQI was 287 when I checked my phone. The dogs still want to dwaddle outside, but there's a chemical scent to the smoke that concerns me.
Hell, even our solar panels are only generating half of what they should be on a July day.
The sad part is there was a time when the U.S. would have sent crews up to Ontario to assist our Canadian siblings, just like they and Mexico would send additional fire fighters to assist with our own blazing countrysides.
Now, the rule in D.C. is every person for himself. Now, everyone suffers.
But we got a little lesson and some hope last night.
As I reported, Jane Doe Jr. had a baby. And the new fawn on the block thinks my flower beds are an all-you-eat buffet. But the queen doe of our yard's fluffle also likes munching on the flower bed. The deer and the rabbit ate side-by-side for a few minutes while Jane Doe Jr. watched from the other side of the wire fence running along the back of our lot.
Then the pair decided to play tag. DH tried to get shots of them, but this was the clearest. The gray mass near the fawn's butt in the queen rabbit's butt. The pair played in our yard for a quite while before the fawn trotted off with her mother.
For the first time ever, DH has named the backyard wildlife. The new fawn is now Bambi. The queen bunny is now Thumper.
And if Bambi and Thumper can eat a meal and play together, they rest of us can, too.
And woke up to the project already approved!
The wait is over. The campaign goes live on July 21st!
If you want to a notice so you don't miss this opportunity, click this link to go to the Pre-Launch Page and click the 'Notifiy Me On Launch' button!
Besides the fact that I no longer need glasses to drive. LOL
The Kickstarter peeps have added a ton of new tools to make things a lot easier for campaigners and backers. I'm trying a couple of the new things with this campaign. And I plan to use a few more with the October Kickstarter for the Justice 10th Anniversary hardback editions.
If you've never done a book campaign on Kickstarter or haven't done one in a while (like me) I highly recommend Anthea Sharp's Kickstarter for Authors. The second edition lays out all the recent changes in an easy to understand format.
(And yes, I stole her name for my Justice series heroine.)
Unfortunately, the many problems I've encountered have nothing to do with Kickstarter itself. It has everything to do with ordering certain crafting material from foreign countries and sending physical rewards overseas. The ongoing trade wars the U.S. president started when he took office has done a ton to hurt small companies like mine, even though he claims to be pro-business. That's why I'm starting over with a very simple, no-bling campaign. E-books are easy to send anywhere in the world, but physical goods have gotten ridiculously expensive to ship.
*sigh*
We'll see how things go with the two campaigns I've planned for 2026, and look over the data before I map out next years production schedule.
So, I've been hiding at Starbucks to work on Death Goddess Redeeming. Yay for trenta ice tea with a free refill!
I thought this story would be easy, but Isis's avatar is dealing with the emotional trauma of her original husband's death and her own flight to save her unborn son while protecting her charge.
It's bring back my own fears of when I was pregnant with Genius Kid. I thought I'd dealt with that shit, but apparently Subconscious feels the need to dredge up all the pain, grief, and anger in order write Reyna.
Thank goodness, I passed the book's halfway point yesterday. Things will get better during the downhill slide to the finish.
I hope!
Thankfully, it's been raining off and on here, and it's 25 degrees cooler! The plants outside already look a lot greener than they did yesterday under the massive heat dome perched over the eastern portion of the continent.
Seriously, it's hard to think, much less write, when it's that hot. Which was why I spent two and a half hours a Starbucks under their blessed A/C and a extra-large cup of their ice tea and got more words written in one day than I had the previous week.
I'm roughly at the halfway point of Death Goddess Redeeming. The info for the paperback covers for Death Goddess Walking and A Barrel of Vintner have been sent to their respective cover designers.
So, I'm off to get some words in before we meet the Niece and her parents for dinner tonight at our favorite diner. The food's relative cheap and oh-so-good!
All in all, a much more pleasurable Monday than the last one.
Yes, I'm participating in this year's Smashwords July sale! Every novel and novella are half-price! All short stories are free!
This will probably be the last time I do a sale on Smashwords, so grab what you want while you can. Especially if you're inside during this magnificent heat dome covering the eastern side of the North American continent.
(Not even our dogs want to go outside in this Mad Max hellscape!)
I also FINALLY got the Outlook Groups for my publishing e-mail lists pulled from the previous laptop to the new one. UGH! I hate Microsoft sometimes. "Let us handle the information transfer, but we will leave out random shit!" Anyway, the newsletters will be out later this week.
I reviewed everything I need to do for the Kickstarter that's supposed to launch this month. I'm a lot closer to being ready tan I thought. The last things I need to do for the campaign are to draft the story portion and take photo of the swag that will be offered.
I attended last night's yoga class and managed not to cry. Our instructor is closing her studio at the end of the month thanks to the current economic crisis. I wouldn't have been able to go if my readers hadn't graciously bought lots of copies of A Barrel of Vintner and Amazon hadn't paid me early. Tonight is the last night, and I may lose it at the end.
And last night, I took a much needed break since my sprinting partner wasn't available since she was babysitting her niece. I watched The Last Stand with DH and then resumed reading Jonathan Moeller's Ghost in the Hunt.
None of this may seem like a lot, but every niggling thing takes time, effort, and concentration.
But hey, things are getting done! And in time, it will all turn into something beautiful!
It'll be in the 90's, baby! With lots of fireworks in the neighborhood!
I'm glad I grabbed a bottle of calming chews for the Princess Pup and the Grandpuppy during last month's dog supply run! Neither of them shake in sheer terror like poor Haley did decades ago, but they feel the need to reply to every little crack and boom with three times the barking. Honestly, the calming chews are for mine and DH's sanity, not the dog's.
In the meantime, I finished proofing the paperback of A Barrel of Vintner in the wee hours of this morning. My lovely formatter has already sent the final files back to me by the time I rolled out of bed and grabbed my first cup of coffee. Now, it's just a matter of getting everything uploaded and letting the retailer process roll through.
Which means paperbacks should be available for order late next week. Not in time for the July 4th festivities, but definitely for any other vacations for this summer.
In the meantime, I'm trying to wrap up edits on Death Goddess Fighting and getting words in on Death Goddess Redeeming while taking occasional forays into A Sprout of Wild for a palate cleanser.
I hope the rest of you are enjoying a lovely slice of summer sun and fun!
Today, I'm trying to finish the final proofing for the paperback version of A Barrel of Vintner. I thought I had a fairly clean manuscript when the ebook was published in April. Alas, I was wrong! But I'm trying to make things right!
Unfortunately, today was also the semi-annual dental exam. I'm always paranoid that the dentist will find something expensively wrong. But it was an observation that I had a LOT of caffeine staining on my teeth.
Hey, I admit I have addiction, but sometimes, I also need something to sip on when I'm going through a manuscript for the umpteenth time. Not even my own action-adventure stories can keep the eyelids open when the entire text is nearly memorized. And there in lies the reason for the caffeine. I need to be awake to smash the typos with my shoe!
(Not literally, but I view them as the spiders I do not want crawling into my mouth while I'm sound asleep.)
At least, I don't have to cook tonight since there's plenty of leftover scallops and spaghetti for dinner tonight.
Now, back to the proofing!
This morning started with mailing bills and a 90-day notice to the storage unit place. We're getting the last of our boxes out, come hell or high water.
I then went to Starbucks for two hours to get words in on Death Goddess Redeeming.
Got home for DH to point out I forgot to drop off the Grandpuppy's stool sample at the vet's. Which was still sitting in the fridge. Don't worry. It was double-sealed.
On the way home again, I stopped for gas so DH can drive to the stadium up in Toledo for the Flag City Phantoms last home game. I also bought a lime to make the pico de gallo for tonight's dinner.
Seriously, there's nothing like fresh, homemade pico de gallo!
The rest of tonight will be spent editing Death Goddess Fighting and proofing the paperback of A Barrel of Vintner around dinner and catsitting. A visit with the Niece's cat Miss M with require allergy and decongestant meds a half hour prior to attending the Dark Queen.
When we get home, I'll probably spend the rest of the evening working on beaded bookmarks for the upcoming Kickstarter while a movie plays in the background.
I hope the rest of you can enjoy a lazy summer weekend!
Next thing I knew, it was an hour later. Oops!
Not even a shower and a cup of peppermint coffee has helped. I'm still yawning.And yes, I followed my nighttime rituals of cutting off caffeine and reading before bed.
However, writing and editing must be done. Plus, I need to finalize my campaign page for next month's Kickstarter.
Maybe starting some cinnamon rolls would help.
I got an e-mail last week from the owner of the yoga studio I go to. They're closing at the end of the month.
@*$@(*@*#)!&#$#&*@(*!!!
I've got my meds balanced, I'm eating better, and I've been exercising regularly between walking dogs and this class. Should I be taking the closing of the studio personally? No, I should not. The owner's in the same boat as everyone else, including me. Food prices and gas have doubled, and there's no end to the bullshit in sight.
It's still disappointing as fuck. I'm one of those people who needs a push to reach my exercise goals. Even the gentle nudge of the instructors of this particular studio helped me tremendously.
Why? Frankly, I'd prefer to sit all day and write, but that's not healthy for your body in the long run. The Public Service Announcements that sitting for long periods being as bad for humans as smoking aren't joking. My back and hips are aching just from the writing I've done over the last two weeks.
So I need to find a way, and the emotional push, to continue practicing yoga at home.
*sigh*
This totally sucks!
But the subject of AI-written books has come up repeatedly in the handful of blogs I still read from people in the publishing industry. The problem with AI-generated things is they have no soul. No creativity. Nothing new. AI follows a trope outline so everything sounds exactly the same.
There's nothing inherently wrong with a trope. Genres are based on tropes. You read a romance for a happy ending. You read fantasy for an exciting adventure with imaginary beings. You read a mystery, knowing justice will be served in the end.
But AI takes the trope and dulls it down to the basic elements. There are no surprises. No revelations. Basically, there's no fun.
But there's so many new writers out there who think AI is the end-all, be-all to writing books. And that's their big mistake. Because those writers think that book is their "creation". It's not. A machine created it. And guess what? You can't copyright something YOU did not create.
Which is why Ingram rejected 4.5 million (yes, 4,5000,000) books from their system over the last five and a half years. Why? Because the legal copyright owner or licensee did not give them permission.
You may tell a machine or even a person what to do, but that doesn't mean it's your creation.
Want some examples?
1) I go to a bakery and order a cake. I tell the baker I want a chocolate cake with vanilla buttercream frosting. Now, do I own the recipes for the cake and the frosting? Hell, no!
2) Meryl Streep is heading to the Oscars and gets a custom-made dress from Designer X. Meryl might make some suggestions like wanting full-length sleeves and lots of sequins. Does Meryl own the copyright to the dress? Nope, Designer X does.
So if I tell ChatGPT to write a romance with two characters named Ginger and Fred, do I own the copyright? Nope! I didn't create the story itself.
And that's not even getting into the legal peccadillo about creation by a non-human! (Go look up Naruto v. David Slater, et al., also known as the Monkey Selfie Case)
And most of all, here's my part of my thought I left on another writer's comment section after he was blasted for being anti-AI:
AI robs people of the joy of storytelling. And I love being in the "Zone" as my Hubby calls it--when you're so deep in the story you're living your main character's experience and the words flow from your fingertips.
_poster.jpg)
DH and I haven't been going to the movies for the last several months.
The firs part of it is that money has been tight due to the 2022-2025 life rolls.
The second part of it is the movies we want to see are on the paid streaming services a month or two after they're released in the cinemas. And then they end up on the free services with ads about a year later.
The third part is we've been re-watching our favorite TV shows that came out twenty-thirty years ago. Babylon 5, Stargate SG-1, Farscape, The Dresden Files, Highlander, etc.
The fourth part is we've been busy. While I've been writing or editing in the evenings, DH has been getting certified in an accounting software package. With the current economic situation, we're trying to find little ways to improve our income. I mean I'm spending twice as much in groceries right now than I did when Genius Kid was a teenager! We don't drive much because gasoline is roughly two times what we were paying before Tribblehead attacked Iran for no real reason after promising no new wars.
Liar, liar. Pants on fire!
Anyway, I need something a little positive in my day. I think I'll go rewatch the newest Superman. David Corenswet is a cutie!
However, I am truly glad we stayed home this weekend. For an introduction, DH loves a show on the REELZ channel called On Patrol Live ("OPL"). It's the successor to A&E's very popular Live PD. About the time we clipped the cable cord, REELZ introduced their own streaming service, so a subscription to REELSZ+ was DH's joint birthday/Christmas present.
Last season, the Toledo Police Department ("TPD") joined the series. Unfortunately, nearly every case on with TPD starts with the call "shots fired".
*facepalm*
Northwest Ohio is actually a fairly quiet region. Yes, we have our problems like a sinking economy and opioid addiction. And there was one case on the show where a drunk woman climbed a tree and peed on the officer trying to get her down, which sad to say is more typical. Part of me wondered if things on the show were overblown.
Until Saturday.
There was a mass shooting at the Old West End street festival. Twelve people were injured, but thankfully, there were no fatalities. But TPD is still looking for the perpetrators.
I have to wonder about people like this. What the hell goes through their brains to make them hurt innocent people on this scale?
This morning, I breached briefly to check headlines to see if there were any updates. There wasn't to the Toledo shooting, but apparently, Tribblehead had a major meltdown on NBC's Meet the Press yesterday.
So, two temper tantrums in two days because some yahoos aren't getting their way. And they don't fucking care who they hurt in the process.
*sigh*
I'm hunkering down, disconnecting my wifi, and focusing on my stories. Because there, kickass women protect the people being shit on, and they don't put up with temper tantrums.
Ironically, it's the first truly insane holiday for the Ohio State Troopers since New Year's Eve. I can hear my readers outside of the U.S. asking, "Why?"
It's because people who drink in the U.S. often drive while intoxicated. If that drunk person is lucky, they make it home without killing some living creature. However, they can't trust luck. Eventually, someone will die.
I've got too many stories of drunk drivers. Two of my cousins were hit by drunk driver. Both ended up with spinal and vertebrae injuries they still suffer with decades later. My brother was hit by a drunk driver who was racing another driver. Somehow, his only injuries were bruises from the seatbelt. The kid riding with his drunk brother wasn't so lucky. No seatbelt on and he went right through the windshield.
Another cousin was a police officer in D.C. She's been to far too many accident scenes where innocent people have been disabled or died because of drunk drivers.
Then there were my own parents. With three teenagers in the house, I understand they wanted and needed some privacy. However, their bright idea was to get a 12-pack of Busch and drive through the back country roads while drinking. In their cases, they were lucky.
But it didn't alleviate mine and my siblings' worry. I doubt if Mom and Dad ever realized the three of us would lay awake in our beds until we heard Dad's pickup pull into our drive. And there were a few nights when my brother and sister would enter my room, and we'd sit there discussing whether we needed to call the sheriff to look for them. Like I said, our parents got lucky. We'd eventually hear the truck pull into the drive, and my siblings would scramble back to their rooms.
However, the Ohio State Patrol announced that the 2026 Memorial Day holiday weekend had the fewest fatalities in years. Most of it was due to the doubling or tripling of gas prices depending on where you live. But it means someone, somewhere, isn't crying their eyes out over the loss of a loved one to a drunk driving accident.
I'm not against drinking. I just ask that you please do it at home or have a designated driver when you go out and drink. And make sure you wear your seatbelts. Be safe this summer! Because you all have someone sitting at home in the dark, waiting for your safe return.
1) B&N raised the payout limit to $25.
What does that mean? It used to be that a writer had to accumulate $10 in royalties on their account before B&N would deposit the finds electronically into the writer's bank account.
I needed to dig through the Terms & Conditions to find the total for royalties before payout was raised to $25.
By the way, that's US dollars.
They aren't the only retailer doing this. Draft2Digital recently raised their net royalty accumulation to $10 USD. Kobo's royalty accumulation has been $50 CAD since I first joined (back in 2015, I think).
I'm disappointed because it's just one more way for the retailers to make money off of writers rather than customers. By keeping the money in their accounts longer, they make the interest, not us.
2) B&N will no longer carry any paperbacks with the retail price less than $14.99.
At least, this change has been on a banner on the B&N Press website, and I didn't have to spend an hour digging through legalese. My feeling is that B&N is cutting off their noses to spite their faces. A lot of indie writers, including me, have had to raise their paperback prices thanks to the economic chaos from the COVID-19 pandemic.
That already sucked, but now, the costs for supplies like paper and ink are rising again thanks to the U.S. attacks on Iran and the traffic through the Straight of Hormuz being choked.
I'm already trying not to raise my paperback prices again, but B&N trying to force the issue steams me. So, if some of my books disappear from the B&N website that's why.
All-in-all, the recent changes in retailer behavior is pushing me to start my own online store sooner rather than later. I'll let y'all know!
Unfortunately, I'm in the same position as everyone else in the country. I find it necessary to raise prices on e-books. I've been resisting it for the last ten years.
Any e-books currently released will remain at their current prices. Any unfinished series, like Justice and Millersburg Magick Mysteries, will remain at their current price levels.
Any NEW novels or series, i.e. any work where Book #1 or a new single title, is released on retailers after May 15, 2026, will be priced at $5.99. Novellas will be priced at $3.99.
It sucks to raise prices when we're all just trying to get by.
For various reasons, including the COVID pandemic, DH and I've never been able to attend any of GK's ceremonies. The kid kept saying we didn't have to come to this one. But I insisted, telling him I wanted to attend ONE adult recognition ceremony.
You see, he didn't graduate from high school. He dropped out for reasons DH and I understood and supported. In our white-collar town, something like this was a major scandal, but none of the three of us cared. Not every person is cut out for cookie-cutter classroom bullshit.
During the ceremony, his 1st sergeant and captain said some wonderful things about GK's service. Their words were genuine and sincere. At the end of the ceremony, GK was called upon to make a speech. GK thanked those who had mentored him and recognized the efforts of his fellow soldiers in getting the job done. It was a humble and sweet speech from an accomplished young man who had failed his public speaking class in his teen years because of severe anxiety.
To say DH and I are proud of the man our son has become is an understatement.
When the unit was dismissed at the end, GK said he needed to take care of a couple things and then he'd meet us for dinner. His captain overheard, came over to us, and said, "Harden, you're done for today. Go spend some time with your parents."
Sarcasm, an appreciation for SF&F, and a love of chocolate are pretty much the only things GK inherited from me. He got everything else from DH. However, we both love him and are proud of him. He's everything we could want in our progeny.
And now when he calls, I'll say, "Hey, Sarge! What's up?"
Once again, I'm struck by how many writers view their art as playing the lottery. If their books doesn't sell X copies or Y dollars, it's an utter failure is their eyes.
However, they cannot anticipate what the reading public might like. No one can. All the other arts can't either. Really, they can't.
But in some writers' heads, they believe if they write that one book that takes off and sells millions of copies they will be set for life.
That's lottery thinking. That's why I've seen so many people stop writing since I started publishing fiction. They aren't writing and publishing because they love their stories and want to share them with the world. They write hoping to make a quick buck.
And the cycle has started again with the coming of AI. *sigh*
A computer, any computer, even with super sophisticated software can only spit out what has been inputted. Any stores, any paintings, any music is the sausage that comes out after it's been ground up. And artists don't even add spices. It's just blah-tasting meat remains.
And they don't understand why the public isn't lapping up their tasteless, blah meat sludge.
If you want t be a writer, write for yourself first. And I mean really write. Write the story you'd love read. Write what you want to say. Write because it brings you joy.
Let me tell you something. I'm still writing after thirty some years because I have fun. I find joy in a well-crafted story.
And you want to know something? I can keep my high blood pressure and my diabetes under control because I'm having a blast writing these stories.
I'll keep writing stories as long as I'm able because I love doing it. It's the next best thing to cuddly with your loved ones.
I've had to get up early every day this week for phone calls, appointments, and time sensitive tasks.
A bench warrant was issued for my arrest. I forgot to pay a speeding before the court date. The fine has been paid, and the warrant canceled. I switch between laughing at my absent-mindedness and being totally embarrassed because I'm usually on top of deadlines.
My cousin is still planning to move to Ohio. We were on the phone nearly two hours going through everything she's gotten done since our last phone conversation. Plus, discussing all the things that need to be arranged on any move.
A new health issue for me has raised its ugly head. A complete blood workup is scheduled for Monday before I get a referral to the specialist. I'm finally cutting down my diabetes and high blood pressure meds after changes to my diet and attending yoga classes. I don't want to add more drugs to my personal pharmacy, but I may not have a choice.
DH has been at the high school nearly every night this week since its peak high school lacrosse season. I thought I'd have a chance to catch up on some stuff around the house. Except the princess pup has been having tummy trouble with her new arthritis medicine, so I spent a good chunk of my free evening time cleaning up dog vomit. No, she is not still taking that med, and I need to call her vet on Monday.
The one good thing this week was Genius Kid found out he's going to be promoted to sergeant. DH and I are going to his base to see the ceremony. I'm excited to see my son. Unfortunately, we can't stay longer in Georgia, but GK plans on coming home for his birthday. I'm just really happy he's not still in Kuwait. I know it's part of being in the service, but it doesn't make it easier.
Over the weekend, I'll try to catch up on the writing that did not happen earlier. And maybe that's part of the problem with my funky mood. As I said in a previous blog post, I write to relax.
Oh, I get some writing in on those busy days. Ten minutes here. Fifteen minutes there. Everything squeezed in between a bunch of other stuff.
However, if I can sit down for a quiet two and a half hours, I hit my word goal for the day, and any other words are pure gravy. I'm not getting a lot of gravy words lately, and it irritates me.
You see, writing isn't work to me. From my point of view, it's not much different than reading another author's book during some quiet time. It's peaceful. Enjoyable. I can't wait to see what happens next.
Why? Because when I outline every freaking step, my brain thinks, "Hey, the story's done! Let's go write a different one." I have to pants the writing so it feels fresh and exciting to my brain. Pantsing makes writing fun!
I find it amusing that other writers bitch and moan about working so hard. My thought is if you don't like writing, if it's too difficult to do, why are you doing it?
Well, not only is Draft2Digital enacting fees in an effort to limit AI slop, Barnes & Noble("BN") also has a new policy to prevent the same on their site.
BN has enacted a limit of 100 titles for indie writers using the Nook Press feature. A lot of folks have received this notice from the scuttlebutt I've found on various social media sites. However, I haven't received such a notice.
(YES! I'VE CHECKED THE GODDESSDAMN SPAM FILTERS! Sorry, I get this from people who weren't even born when I graduated from college with a degree in computer science.)
It might be because I'm setting up Angry Sheep Publishing LLC as the owner of my retail accounts to make it easier on my heirs when I croak. I got the BN account switched over last year.
Even if the new rules apply to ASP LLC, I'm going to have to contact BN (yet, another thing to add to my massive to-do list) and confirm what I suspect, instead of making any assumptions.
Why? Because A Barrel of Vintner was the 91st book I've uploaded to BN. Yes, I have written a lot of stuff. No, not all of it is for sale. Yet.
Here's the problem though. A new spammer can create an account and still upload 100 pieces of AI-generated crap. Then create another account and upload 100 pieces of crap. And so on.
This rule only puts a crimp in people like me who have been writing professionally for the last twenty years.
I don't think the geniuses at BN have really thought this idea through.
However, if you don't already have an account as of April 14th of 2026, you must pay them $20 in order to distribute your books.
If you already have an account with them, and YOUR earnings do not meet a threshold of $100, you will need to pay a $12 annual maintenance fee.
So basically, they're extorting more money from indie writers.
*sigh*
I had problems when I first used D2D back in 2013. Let's just say it was in the middle of the 2013 Pornocalypse, and their actions and response to a simple problem left a very bad taste in my mouth.
Last year, I was finally forced to use D2D's platform in order to publish on Smashwords after D2D purchased the Smashwords platform back in 2022. I'd been slowly removing titles from Smashwords' distribution system anyway. The takeover merely sped up the transition. So now, I go direct on Kobo and Apple instead of going through D2D.
I haven't sold much on Smashwords for the last few years. I'd been toying with the idea of no longer using them. This new stand by D2D has pushed the issue to the forefront.
Here's Angry Sheep Publishing LLC's stand on the matter:
1) I have been grandfathered into D2D's new pay-to-play system. My company does not have to pay the annual fee until February of 2027.
2) I will leave ASP LLC's books, including 2026's releases, available for purchase on Smashwords until December of 2026. On New Year's Day, I'll re-evaluate everything. But if I'm not even making enough to cover the $12 fee, there's no sense keeping my account.
So for those readers who prefer purchasing ebooks from Smashwords, this is your fair warning.
I'm not pressuring you to buy anything. I passed the gas station today. I'm trying to figure out how to afford some groceries. I may have to go without a very expensive drug at the end of the month. And I know damn well a lot of you are in a worse position in the current economic chaos. If you have some change leftover at the end of month and you want to purchase one of my novels, GREAT! Otherwise, you need to take care of yourself first and foremost. I get it. I really do!
But this is how I make a living. I can't afford to subsidize another company. They sure as hell aren't going to subsidize me. Unfortunately, this is the reality of owning your own business when a bunch of nutcases are running our economy into the ground..
I spent the afternoon at Starbucks working on Death Goddess Fighting. It helps to be working on the middle of the next book so I'm not fretting about sales. Or lack thereof.
The world economy is all over the place right now because someone with a tiny mushroom is trying to prove its not a tiny mushroom. And to the world, I sincerely apologize that my fellow citizens would chose a convicted felon and rapist because he's white rather than an accomplished woman with a proven track record because she's black.
Anyway, I have started on A Spout of Wild, but I'm putting it aside for the next two weeks in the hope I can finish the second volume of The Books of Apep before the end of the month.
Let's hope Mother Nature cooperates. We've already had thunderstorms and tornadoes in Northwest Ohio nearly every day this week.
"Wait! What about the trade paperback? I want paper!" I hear some of you ask.
The trade paperback version will be delayed a few weeks. My lovely formatter just got a brand-new bionic knee, and she's working the kinks out. It takes a little more time to cover from that getting bionic eyes.
Also, if there's any boo-boo's with the ebook version, it is totally my fault, not my formatter's. I will have her re-do the ebook when she's able because I know my version of the glossary wasn't as clean as hers would be.
But life rolls aside, I'd much rather be writing. The exploration of new characters or rejoining old friends doesn't really matter. The simple act of creation brings me joy.
Well, that and seeing a right-wing nutcase kicked out of office! Way to go, voters in Hungary!!
Primaries start in Ohio next month, and then the mid-terms are six months later. We need some changes in the U.S. before a senile old man drops a nuke on innocent people.
Yes, I'm talking politics. I have roughly thirty years left in my life ([Deity of your choice] willing and the creek don't rise!). I don't want to spend the rest of my life under a fascist regime.
I try to stuff all the reality crap into one day a week, so I can create the other six days. However, Murphy decided that was insufficient. Some things were super important like DH's eye doctor appointment. If you've ever had your eyes dilated, there's a reason you need someone to drive you home.
However, DH's appointment was on my day planner's to-do list. A lot of other stuff was not. In fact, I've only been able to cross off one other item on the to-do list.
That was a rather enjoyable dressing down of our local hospital administration for their lack of professionalism. For context, the hospital waited fourteen months before sending me the invoice for a 2024 appointment. These are the same people who threatened to sue me when I couldn't pay them thousands of dollars for my cancer treatments that the insurance company within six months. *side eye*
I get it. We're all just a number in the cogs of U.S. business interests. However, it irritates me when a compromise could be reached if the greedy fucks just weren't so fucking greedy.
*sigh*
Anyway...
I need to get back and finish the fiddly bits of a new novel coming out. I hope everyone has an enjoyable spring weekend! Or a lovely fall weekend if you're down under!
Thank you, readers!
I'll have links for the rest on the series page and on this blog post as soon as possible.
Thank you to all of you that have sent notes concerning the Justice series. I really appreciate your support! I'm so amazed that what should have been a one-off short story has turned into a beloved series.
Amazon
On the way home, we stopped in Columbia, SC, to visit the friend who originally set us up. We spent the night with her before heading back to Ohio. We stopped in Cincinnati to have dinner with DH's best friend and his wife.
All in all, a good trip with too much good food.
It wasn't all fun and games. I wrote and edited on the trip. Prior to leaving, I placed A Barrel of Vintner and Death Goddess Walking on preorder on Amazon. A Barrel of Vintner is also up on the other retailer sights. So I need to set up Death Goddess Walking on the rest of the retailers.
One of the books has been fully edited and delivered to my formatter. I'm 75% through the second book and hope to finish it up today.
I also need to get some bills paid, correspondence sent to our hospital (they forgot to bill me for a check-up back in 2024!), and wade through all the e-mails and snail mail I've received while on the road. Then there's the piddly domestic stuff like picking up prescriptions, washing the laundry from the trip, and putting away clean dishes.
To top everything off, our brand-new roof has a leak, and we need to make some phone calls about that!
However, I have taken a few minutes to admire the spring flowers that were blooming when we arrived home, and I'm giving extra snuggles to the Princess Pup and the Grandpuppy. They both detest the Doggie Hotel even though the staff spoils them rotten.
I hope everyone is whittling though their own to-do list and enjoying a wonderful spring day!
For the third time.
Why? Because I kept getting interrupted with life stuff. I did my first round shortly after finishing the manuscript and sent it to my alpha reader. Then, somehow, I had partial second-round edits in two different files.
Whoops!
So, now I'm picking through files to make sure all the second-round edits are in one file. And I'm finding a few more typos in the process.
I'm really hoping to get it done today. I'm ready to jump back in to working on A Barrel of Vintner.
Why? So I can get back to writing new stuff. As necessary as editing is, it can be incredibly boring.
YMMV!
It's a bit of a relief since I was wondering if I'd ever get to the end. I thought a quiet winter would help, but the last three months have been anything but quiet, both in my personal life and in the world at large.
Needless to say, my writing and publishing schedule has been pushed back thanks to the chaos. I'm still plugging away at the other books on my list. And I really hope things calm down.
Except I know they won't no matter how much I childishly wish for it. It doesn't mean I can't keep hope in a little box on my desk. Sometimes, clinging to hope is the only thing that gets me through my days.
Tonight, I'll work on something else to clear my palate before I start edits. I'll let you all know when the preorders go live. And don't get too excited just yet. It may be a couple of weeks before I finish the edits. It's damn long book!
Whenever I have major amounts of stress, I end up with a ton of muscle and joint pain. The doctors over the last twenty years have no idea why. And since it can't be instantly diagnosed, they give up. It leaves me struggling on days like today.
The overall stress isn't going away any time before 2029. Hell, it may even get worse after 2029. All I can do is try to alleviate personal stress. Which I generally do by writing.
See my problem? LOL
Anyway, the fabulous Mallory Goeke has hand-drawn a new Ohio Rebel Symbol. She shares her work freely, but if you want a copy, kindly tip her of Venmo.
So between this gorgeous bird and some perfectly baked chocolate chip cookies, I'll relax and see how close to finishing A Barrel of Vintner today!
To quote Dustin Pace, aka Non-Toxic Masculinity on Facebook, "Read Books. Lift Weights. Fight Fascists."
And I want it done, too!
It's just been a little hard to concentrate over the past ten days. We're in the middle of a war that only the one-percenters want. A buddy of GK's knew one of the seven soldiers killed. And the current leaders of U.S. are telling us they'll sacrifice all our kids to get what they want.
The wrongness of those statements makes it a little hard to concentrate.
DH and I are old enough to remember Vietnam. The stupidity. The senseless waste. Children my age being napalmed. And yet our leaders are stupid enough to make the same damn ideological mistakes over and over again.
So, yeah. I'm terrified of losing my only child in a war that makes no fucking sense.
But for those of you that need a new Justice book to forget about the war that's not a war, I'm working on it. The wip crossed the 91K line yesterday. I hope to get another 2K written today.
We're getting there. At least, in fiction.
The real life mess? Well, the mid-terms are coming. Let's see if Americans get off their asses and vote. Because gas prices aren't coming down as long as the Straits of Hormuz are blocked.
Once again, we're in a war with no real objective. No exit plan.
And worse, no communication with our allies in the region. Which is why the Kuwaitis shot down three U.S. military jets, thinking they were incoming Iranian fighters.
And the idiots in Washington really thought what was left of the Iranian government wouldn't retaliate.
I admit I'm already sad from our friend's funeral on Saturday. Genius Kid made a point of calling on Saturday afternoon, his attempt to reassure us after news of the U.S. strike on Iran hit the airwaves.
I'm scared. I admit it. GK's current stint would have been up in August. He decided to stay in the Army. But I'm not scared just for him. As I bitterly told a friend yesterday, Tribblehead's cronies are doing their best to turn the U.S. into the Fourth Reich.
And I fear between the war in Ukraine and the one in Iran, we may have World War III on our hands.
"...I'm not in the mood for that."
And ran with it they did. Esquire laments about Martin messing with his fans by not finishing the series.
I find myself a little irritated with George. As a reader, it's been fourteen years since A Dance with Dragons came out. I hate it when an author doesn't finish a series. So yes, I totally get that anger and disappointment from the fans.
On the other hand, I understand as a writer sometimes life gets in the way. It certainly did over the last six years of my life. The COVID-19 pandemic, the deaths of parents, breast cancer still being treated, the Genius Kid getting deployed and Grandpuppy moving in with us, assisting a cousin with estate planning, and the list goes on.
Not once did I not feel like writing! Even during the two-plus-year gap between A Hint of Thief and A Cup of Conflict, I was writing. Just not very fast. Frankly, I was doing good some days to get a sentence or two written before I dropped in my bed, totally exhausted. And yes, there were some days I worked on a light and fluffy story because my days were depressing enough that I couldn't work on anything deep and juicy without crying.
As a I told a reader who asked when "Coming Soon" will be for A Barrel of Vintner, I told her I always mean it when I'm working on a book, but I don't know what or when the Great God Murphy will drop another life roll on my head.
For example, GK is getting promoted to sergeant soon, and DH and I want to attend, but it's a day-long drive one-way to another state. A close relative contacted me about staying with her for a major surgery that's coming up. And I promised my cousin I'd drive her around to visit assisted living places later this summer.
That's while editing the one book that's completed and writing nine other novels before December 31st.
So I'm pleading to you Murphy, GIVE ME ONE DAMN BREAK!
As for A Song of Ice and Fire, fourteen years is an awfully long time to wait for the next book. And part of the problem I believe is George is overthinking his story. It doesn't help that the show-runners for Game of Thrones didn't stick the landing of the finale in the fans' view. So, George is probably putting so much pressure on himself to stick that landing that he ran head-first into the balance beam of his own ego.
So I do get why he's working on other projects. There's not so much pressure internally and from the fans to perform. But, George, if you're listening, maybe you need to just let the project go. Sure, you'll get some blowback, but honesty to your readers is much better than saying, "I'm not in the mood for that."
